IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp6520.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Early Life Economic Conditions on Cause-Specific Mortality During Adulthood

Author

Listed:
  • Yeung, Gary Y.C.

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • van den Berg, Gerard J.

    (University of Groningen)

  • Lindeboom, Maarten

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Portrait, France

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of economic conditions in early life on cause-specific mortality during adulthood. The analyses are performed on a unique historical sample of 14,520 Dutch individuals born in 1880-1918, who are followed throughout life. The economic conditions in early life are characterized using cyclical variations in annual real per capital Gross Domestic Product during pregnancy and the first year of life. Exposure to recessions during pregnancy and/or the first year of life appears to significantly increase all-cause mortality risks and cancer mortality risks of older males and females. It also significantly increases mortality risks due to cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases of older females. The residual life expectancies are up to 4.5 to 8% lower for all-cause mortality and up to 1.5 to 7.8% lower for cause-specific mortality. Our analyses show that cardiovascular and cancer mortality risks are related and that not taking this association into account leads to biased inference.

Suggested Citation

  • Yeung, Gary Y.C. & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Lindeboom, Maarten & Portrait, France, 2012. "The Impact of Early Life Economic Conditions on Cause-Specific Mortality During Adulthood," IZA Discussion Papers 6520, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6520
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp6520.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Van den Berg, G J & Lindeboom, M & Ridder, G, 1994. "Attrition in Longitudinal Panel Data and the Empirical Analysis of Dynamic Labour Market Behaviour," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(4), pages 421-435, Oct.-Dec..
    2. Frijters, Paul & Hatton, Timothy J. & Martin, Richard M. & Shields, Michael A., 2010. "Childhood economic conditions and length of life: Evidence from the UK Boyd Orr cohort, 1937-2005," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 39-47, January.
    3. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Lindeboom, Maarten & Lopez, Marta, 2009. "Inequality in individual mortality and economic conditions earlier in life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1360-1367, November.
    4. Gerard van den Berg & Gabriele Doblhammer-Reiter & Kaare Christensen, 2011. "Being Born Under Adverse Economic Conditions Leads to a Higher Cardiovascular Mortality Rate Later in Life: Evidence Based on Individuals Born at Different Stages of the Business Cycle," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(2), pages 507-530, May.
    5. Ye Luo & Linda J. Waite, 2005. "The Impact of Childhood and Adult SES on Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Well-Being in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(2), pages 93-101.
    6. Jaap H. Abbring & Gerard J. Van Den Berg, 2003. "The identifiability of the mixed proportional hazards competing risks model," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 65(3), pages 701-710, August.
    7. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie, 2011. "Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 153-172, Summer.
    8. Bo E. Honoré & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "Bounds in Competing Risks Models and the War on Cancer," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(6), pages 1675-1698, November.
    9. Gerard J. van den Berg & Maarten Lindeboom & France Portrait, 2006. "Economic Conditions Early in Life and Individual Mortality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 290-302, March.
    10. Anonymous, 1950. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 501-505, August.
    11. Anonymous, 1950. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 683-686, November.
    12. Cameron,A. Colin & Trivedi,Pravin K., 2005. "Microeconometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521848053.
    13. Anonymous, 1950. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 144-145, February.
    14. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Doblhammer, Gabriele & Christensen, Kaare, 2009. "Exogenous determinants of early-life conditions, and mortality later in life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1591-1598, May.
    15. Jenifer Hamil-Luker & Angela O’rand, 2007. "Gender differences in the link between childhood socioeconomic conditions and heart attack risk in adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 137-158, February.
    16. Lembke B., 1918. "√ a. p," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 111(1), pages 709-712, February.
    17. Anonymous, 1950. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 327-330, May.
    18. Lindeboom, Maarten & Portrait, France & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2010. "Long-run effects on longevity of a nutritional shock early in life: The Dutch Potato famine of 1846-1847," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 617-629, September.
    19. Chen, Yuyu & Zhou, Li-An, 2007. "The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959-1961 famine in China," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 659-681, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessie, Rob J.M. & Angelini, Viola & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2019. "Economic conditions at birth and cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood: Evidence from post-1950 cohorts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 77-84.
    2. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2015. "Recessions, healthy no more?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 17-28.
    3. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Olivieri, Elisabetta & Triviza, Eleftheria, 2023. "Eating habits, food consumption, and health: The role of early life experiences," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-054, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2015. "Infant Health and Longevity: Evidence from a Historical Trial in Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 8969, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Eskander, Shaikh M.S.U. & Barbier, Edward B., 2022. "Long-term impacts of the 1970 cyclone in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    6. Alessie, Rob & Angelini, Viola & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2017. "Economic Conditions at Birth and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Adulthood: Evidence from New Cohorts," IZA Discussion Papers 10810, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Niu, Geng & Wang, Qi & Li, Han & Zhou, Yang, 2020. "Number of brothers, risk sharing, and stock market participation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Thompson, Kristina & Lindeboom, Maarten & Portrait, France, 2019. "Adult body height as a mediator between early-life conditions and socio-economic status: the case of the Dutch Potato Famine, 1846–1847," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 103-114.
    9. Denny Vågerö & Agneta Cederström & Gerard J. Berg, 2022. "Food abundance in men before puberty predicts a range of cancers in grandsons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Greve, Jane & Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise & Tekin, Erdal, 2017. "Fetal malnutrition and academic success: Evidence from Muslim immigrants in Denmark," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 20-35.
    11. Hamid NoghaniBehambari & Farzaneh Noghani & Nahid Tavassoli, 2021. "Early-life Income Shocks and Old-Age Cause-Specific Mortality," Papers 2101.03943, arXiv.org.
    12. Reyn van Ewijk & Maarten Lindeboom, 2016. "Why people born during World War II are healthier," Working Papers 1619, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andreella, Claudia & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese & Westphal, Matthias, 2015. "The long shadows of past insults intergenerational transmission of health over 130 years," Ruhr Economic Papers 571, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Angelini, Viola & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2021. "Socioeconomic Conditions in Childhood and Mental Health Later in Life," GLO Discussion Paper Series 844, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Mark E McGovern, 2012. "Don't Stress: Early Life Conditions, Hypertension, and Selection into Associated Risk Factors," Working Papers 201227, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    4. Alessie, Rob J.M. & Angelini, Viola & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2019. "Economic conditions at birth and cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood: Evidence from post-1950 cohorts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 77-84.
    5. Gabriele Doblhammer & Gerard J van den Berg & Thomas Fritze, 2013. "Economic Conditions at the Time of Birth and Cognitive Abilities Late in Life: Evidence from Ten European Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, September.
    6. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Pinger, Pia R., 2016. "Transgenerational effects of childhood conditions on third generation health and education outcomes," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 103-120.
    7. José M. Aburto & Alyson A. van Raalte, 2017. "Lifespan dispersion in times of life expectancy fluctuation: the case of Central and Eastern Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    8. Koen Decancq & María Ana Lugo, 2009. "Measuring inequality of well-being with a correlation-sensitive multidimensional Gini index," Working Papers 124, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    9. Yewulsew Mekuria & Daniel Yilma & Zeleke Mekonnen & Tesfaye Kassa & Lealem Gedefaw, 2016. "Renal Function Impairment and Associated Factors among HAART Naïve and Experienced Adult HIV Positive Individuals in Southwest Ethiopia: A Comparative Cross Sectional Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-11, August.
    10. Lazuka, Volha, 2017. "The lasting health and income effects of public health formation in Sweden," Lund Papers in Economic History 153, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    11. Vladimir M. Shkolnikov & Evgeny M. Andreev & Zhen Zhang & James E. Oeppen & James W. Vaupel, 2009. "Losses of expected lifetime in the US and other developed countries: methods and empirical analyses," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-042, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    12. Chen, Wen-Yi, 2016. "On the relationship between economic conditions around the time of birth and late life cognitive abilities: Evidence from Taiwan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 126-139.
    13. Martine AUDIBERT, 2009. "Issues and Challenges of Measurement of Health:Implications for Economic Research," Working Papers 200922, CERDI.
    14. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2007. "Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(6), pages 925-985, December.
    15. Gerard J. van den Berg & Pia R. Pinger & Johannes Schoch, 2016. "Instrumental Variable Estimation of the Causal Effect of Hunger Early in Life on Health Later in Life," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(591), pages 465-506, March.
    16. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Modin, Bitte, 2013. "Economic Conditions at Birth, Birth Weight, Ability, and the Causal Path to Cardiovascular Mortality," IZA Discussion Papers 7605, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Schiman, Jeffrey C. & Kaestner, Robert & Lo Sasso, Anthony T., 2019. "Infant mortality and adult wellbeing: Evidence from wartime Britain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 12-29.
    18. Ewout Depauw & Deborah Oxley, 2017. "Toddlers, teenagers & terminal heights: The determinants of adult male stature Flanders 1800-76," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _157, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    19. Reyn van Ewijk & Maarten Lindeboom, 2016. "Why people born during World War II are healthier," Working Papers 1619, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    20. Scholte, Robert S. & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2015. "Long-run effects of gestation during the Dutch Hunger Winter famine on labor market and hospitalization outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 17-30.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    survival analyses; cardiovascular disease; cancer; life expectancy; competing mortality risks; recession;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6520. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.